EXTH-31. EXPLOITING THE GENETIC DEPENDENCY ON PI3K/MTOR SIGNALING FOR THE TREATMENT OF H3-ALTERED DIFFUSE MIDLINE GLIOMA
Authors: Ryan Duchatel, Evangeline Jackson, Sarah Parackal, Claire Sun, Paul Daniel, Abdul Mannan, Izac Findlay, Dilana Staudt, Zacary Germon, Sandra Laternser, Dylan Kiltschewskij, Padraic Kearney, M Fairuz B Jamaluddin, Alicia Douglas, Tyrone Beitaki, Mika Perrson, Bryce Thomas, Elizabeth Manning, Heather Murray, Nikki Verrills, Ricardo Vilain, David Skerrett-byrne, Brett Nixon, Susan Hua, Charles DeBock, Fatima Valdes-Mora, Maria Tsoli, David Ziegler, Murray Cairns, Eric Raabe, Nicholas Vitanza, Timothy Phoenix, Carl Koschmann, Frank Alvaro, Christopher Dayas, Christopher Tinkle, David Eisenstat, Ron Firestein, Sabine Mueller, Javad Nazarian, Jason Cain, Matthew Dun
Journal: Neuro-Oncology (2023)

Abstract Recurring activating mutations, amplifications and allelic loss of the negative repressors of the phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling genes are overarching contributors to the poor survival of patients with H3K27-altered diffuse midline gliomas (DMG) diagnosed in the pons (diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma – DIPG), highlighting the clinical potential of therapies that target this axis. Employing a loss-of-function CRISPR-Cas9 gene deletion screen, we identified PIK3CA and MTOR as survival dependences in DMG/DIPG patient derived cell line models (n=36), highlighting the clinical potential of targeting PI3K/Akt/mTOR. The brain-penetrant, PI3K/mTOR inhibitor paxalisib is currently under clinical investigation in DIPG (NCT03696355 and NCT05009992), but dosing limiting toxicities including hyperglycaemia, mucositis and skin irritation limit patient compliance. To exploit this therapeutic vulnerability, we optimized the preclinical use of paxalisib, identifying both precision medicine combination strategies and systemic interventions that reduced side effects and elicited profound tumor control in vivo. Mimicking the patient experience, paxalisib elevated blood glucose levels, promoting the phosphorylation of the insulin receptor (p-INSR) in patient derived DIPG xenograft models. Combining paxalisib with the anti-glycemic drug metformin, synergistically extended the survival of two DIPG xenograft models, decreasing p-Akt, p-mTOR and p-INSR in vivo. Phosphoproteomic profiling of DIPG cells identified paxalisib induced intracellular calcium-regulated PKC signaling. The brain penetrant PKC inhibitor enzastaurin extended the survival of DIPG xenograft models alone, and synergistically combined with paxalisib, enhanced using metformin in three DIPG xenograft models, as well as the immunocompetent H3f3aK27M, PdgfraD842Vmut, Trp53-/- murine brainstem glioma model. Mechanisms of adaptation/plasticity were assessed by ATAC-Seq and quantitative proteomic profiling xenograft tumors refractory to treatment. Here we address the intrinsic neoplastic sequela of DIPG, by combined targeting of PI3K/Akt/mTOR using paxalisib, compensatory PKC signaling using enzastaurin, coupled with strategies to manage treatment-related side-effects and reduced efficacy using metformin; providing the preclinical rationale for the addition of metformin to NCT05009992.